The family of three had fled their home in Kharkov, which has been hit by some of the heaviest Russian bombings, after waiting more than two weeks to obtain a visa to the United Kingdom. They traveled 800 miles to Warsaw Airport in Poland, where they were to fly to London as part of the UK Government’s Homes for Ukraine program. Vira Rybalchenko, 68, lost her passport during the evacuation, but received assurances from the British embassy that she would be allowed to travel because she had a hard copy of the document, as well as a newly issued British visa and a Ukrainian identity card. The family went through airport security without any problems, but minutes before they were to board their flight, Rybalchenko was misinformed by BA staff that she could not leave without her original passport. BA admitted it was a mistake and apologized to the family after contacting the Guardian. He said: “We are very sorry for the real mistake our team made when it was trying to follow the instructions of the Ministry of Interior and we have taken steps to ensure that this does not happen again. We will contact the family to apologize and we will refund your tickets in full “. Rybalchenko’s daughter Hanna Zakhovaieva said: “It was a horrible experience and my mom was absolutely shocked. “I could not leave my mom in Poland because she does not understand the language and does not know anyone or has a place to stay.” Zakhovaieva, 37, said her eight-year-old daughter, Sofiia, had been “severely injured” by the war and spoke to her father, Konstantin, every day in Kharkov to make sure he was “still alive”. The family had arrived at the airport at 6 in the morning with all their belongings before the flight at 08:25 for Heathrow, London. Zakovaieva, an accountant, said they were left “without explanation or apology” by BA staff after being mistakenly denied permission to board. They finally boarded a flight at 20:00 for London with LOT Polish Airlines, after an employee of the Hungarian airline Wizz Air created a temporary travel document for Rybalchenko. Zakhovaieva said she saw another family disgusted with BA staff and that it could have happened to many others. “When we spoke to the visa center at the airport, we were told that the majority of families would be in the same situation [regarding incomplete documents] “and they were shocked that BA did not allow us to board even though we had a visa,” he said. “They said this is a huge issue that many families will face.” BA declined to say how many other Ukrainian passengers were mistakenly prevented. Zakhovaieva, her daughter and mother now live with their family in Surrey, Kate Larmer and Charlie Boffin, who helped set up the Farnham Homes team for Ukraine to match strangers in the UK with Ukrainians leaving the war. Tatiana Moskalenko, a Ukrainian living in Britain who helps run the group, said airlines should be aware that refugees are allowed to board flights if they have a valid visa. He said: “At the moment we are helping 87 families [get to the UK] and each of these families is missing documents, either because it was lost in the evacuation or because the passport has expired. “This is a government directive that they do not need to have a valid passport to travel because they are refugees – as long as they have a visa.” BA has faced weeks of turmoil with dozens of flight cancellations caused by IT failures and staff shortages.
